Quote

Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":

"Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
Submitted by Leah

Remember how you felt when Pruitt started dismantling the EPA.

Remember how you felt when Zinke began threatening public lands.

Remember because everything we need for survival…..air, water, land, food, other species, society, economics, politics and national security……all of everything is built on the backbone of the environment.

Vote and remind your friends and family to vote as if the future of humanity depends on it. Because it does.

The McGlynn

Voters filled in their ballots on Sunday during early voting at the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Cincinnati.CreditJohn Minchillo/Associated Press

Allow me to make a few requests of you in advance of Tuesday’s elections.

First, dispense with all of the distractions and the deceit.

Donald Trump is openly trying to weaponize racism, to inflame passions and stoke fear. He wants America to focus on a caravan of refugees almost 700 miles away rather than to see clearly the corruption and cravenness right in front of our faces.

Tune out, for the moment, the torrent of lies coming from Trump.

Instead, focus on your principles.

Focus on the numbness you felt on Election Day 2016, the feeling of horror and disbelief that Trump would actually assume the presidency, the way you stumbled though the days that followed, a pained, hollowed-out shell of yourself.

Remember the reason that you showed up, pussy hat-adorned, for the Women’s March, or the March for Our Lives following the horrific high school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

Remember that feeling of honor and solidarity you felt when you saw those who took a knee on a football field or stood up at Standing Rock.

Remember Trump’s pathetically insufficient response to the suffering of brown American citizens in Puerto Rico and his outrageously hyperbolic response to suffering brown Central American refugees still in Mexico.

Remember that Nazis, white supremacists, white nationalists and all manner of racists seem to be quite pleased with Trump’s ascension.

“We are determined to take our country back.”

He continued:

“We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believe in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

Remember how you felt when Trump said that there were “very fine people” on both sides in Charlottesville.

Remember how it felt back when, even if you disagreed with the president, sometimes vehemently, you still didn’t think he was a demagogue and demi-fascist.

Remember when the press — and the truth itself — wasn’t under constant assault by a president who is a liar of a quality and scale that we have never seen before.

Remember how dizzying it is to keep up with how many people have been forced to resign from this administration in shame and how many of the people connected to the Trump campaign have been indicted or pleaded guilty to some form of crime.

Remember how you felt when you heard Trump bragging on tape that he enjoyed assaulting women, when multiple women stepped forward who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Trump and when conservatives, including the so-called “religious right,” dismissed it all.

Remember the disgust you felt at seeing people held at airports due to Trump’s Muslim ban and seeing children ripped from their parents and locked in cages due to Trump’s family separation policy at the border.

Remember that the Russians attacked our election and Trump not only hosted a joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, where he drew some moral equivalencies between our country and theirs, but he has utterly failed to full-throatedly acknowledge the attack or take sufficient steps to prevent the next one.

Remember how you feel every time you see a Trump rally and recoil as his hyped-up base falls further into his thrall, excited and entertained by his animus and depravity.

And now remember that through it all, Republicans in Congress have averted their gaze, silently or openly acquiescing, or even cheering.

Republicans bore witness just like the rest of us to Trump’s hatred, racism, division, corruption and mendacity, but instead of rejecting him, they embraced him. They became his flunkies and minions, his accomplices and his defenders. There is now no daylight separating the Republicans in Congress from the man who occupies the presidency.

So, you have to ask yourself: Do you want a Congress full of Trump puppets?

Do you want a Congress that refuses to hold Trump accountable, who would halfheartedly investigate connections between the Trump campaign and Russia and who would halfheartedly investigate a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court?

Do you want a Congress that will be a rubber stamp for Trump’s ill-conceived policies and will help him remake the American judiciary in ways that could take generations to undo?

Do you want a Congress that has continuously voted to do precisely what Trump wants to do: destroy the Affordable Care Act?

Is this the country you thought it was or could be, or are Trump and Republicans in Congress making a mockery of your America?

I say, enough is enough!

Someone has to protect this country, our institutions and our traditions. We have to stand up for honesty, principles, equality and civility.

The Constitution offers avenues for political change in this country, but the paramount one is at the ballot. Seize your opportunity on Tuesday.

Vote, vote, vote!

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